You can be a triathlete.
Yes! You can! I’m sure you’ve heard people talking about training for triathlons or seen it on TV and thoughts ran through your head like:
- That sounds impossible
- That sounds painful
- Maybe I can run, but swimming & biking sound daunting
Doing a triathlon is something that millions of people just like you thought they could never do. But they are doing it!
The triathlon is one of the fastest growing sports around the world and it’s now an event in the Olympics.
It’s not one size fits all either. There are many different types of triathlons:
| Swim | Cycle | Run | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sprint | 750 m (0.47 mi.) | 20 km (12.4 mi.) | 5 km (3.1 mi.) |
| Olympic | 1.5 km (0.93 mi.) | 40 km (24.8 mi.) | 10 km (6.2 mi.) |
| Half Iron Man | 1.93 km (1.2 mi.) | 90 km (56 mi.) | 21.09 km (13.1 mi.) |
| Iron Man | 3.86 km (2.4 mi.) | 180 km (112 mi.) | 42.2 km (26.2 mi.) |
For your first triathlon, do a Sprint. You will:
- Swim 750 meters (the distance of about 15 laps in a pool)
- Cycle about 13 miles (even biking slow, you can do this in under an hour. It’s about 4 times around an average size neighborhood)
- Run about 3 miles (you don’t even have to run, you can walk or jog)
You don’t have to have professional gear or be a pro athlete either. Just commit to a few months of training and you’ll be ready to go.
Right now I’m training for a few triathlons in Tennessee. I’m planning to compete:
- June 26 in Hendersonville
- July 11 in Chattanooga
- July 25 in Nashville
Do a Google search for a sprint triathlon in your area. You can also search for a triathlon training calendar. Here’s a sample plan below to give you a basic idea. This is also something you will work up to, so don’t expect to jump straight from being a couch potato to exercising at this intensity right away.
- Swim 2X a week (15 min. swim and a 30 min. swim)
- Cycle 2X a week (45 min. rides)
- Run 2X a week (20 min. run and a 30 min. run)
So here is your challenge–Who’s in for doing a triathlon this year? Set a goal (write it down!) and start training.
If you’ve done a triathlon before, what are your best tips for our beginners?
While I am a novice, I have competed in triathlons before. My advise is to focus on achieving small training goals. Try to just ride 1 more mile, swim for 5 minutes longer than you did last time, and run one more driveway than you did last time. If you are totally stressed about one leg of the race, register as a team and have someone else do the part that concerns you. I am a slow runner so I sometimes have a friend do the run leg for me so I can still swim and bike. You don’t have to be an elite athlete, you can do it!